Written Answers Friday 2 October 2009

Scottish Executive

Ferry Services

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the extent will be of the public consultation on the terms and conditions to be included in the tender documents for the next contract to provide lifeline ferry services between the Scottish mainland and Orkney and Shetland and what the dates will be for the various stages of the consultation.

Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Government intends to conduct a full and open consultation in respect of the 2012-18 contract to provide lifeline ferry services between the Scottish mainland and Orkney and Shetland. It is intended that this consultation will be conducted in parallel with consultations on the Scottish Ferries Strategy. While precise dates have yet to be finalised, these consultations will commence early in 2010.

Ferry Services

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the quantity of freight carried on each route operated by CalMac Ferries Limited, (b) Cowal Ferries Limited and (c) NorthLink Ferries Limited in each of the last 10 years for which records are available.

Stewart Stevenson: The quantity of freight carried on a route-by-route basis is not available.

  CalMac Ferries and Cowal Ferries record the number of commercial vehicles carried and the tariff is based on a lane metre charge, i.e. on the amount of deck space taken up by the vehicle on the ferry. NorthLink Ferries also charge on a lane metre basis for the transport of commercial vehicles and drop-trailers.

  While all three companies monitor the overall weight of the vehicles/trailers carried for loading and space allocation purposes, the companies do not require their customers to produce a manifest of the type or quantity of freight being carried (although dangerous goods do need to be notified to the operators before shipment).

Higher Education

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether funding for universities is broadly comparable with funding for universities elsewhere in the United Kingdom.

Fiona Hyslop: It is generally accepted in the university sector that public funding for Scottish universities is broadly comparable with that in other parts of the United Kingdom. Most recently, Professor Steven Smith, President of Universities UK, said while at the Universities UK conference in Edinburgh on 8 and 9 September, that funding levels were roughly comparable (reported in The Times , 11 September 2009).

Ports

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that Clydeport is obliged to consult, or could do more to consult, local residents regarding laid-up shipping presently berthed in Loch Striven, Argyll.

Stewart Stevenson: These are matters for Clydeport Ltd in its role as the statutory harbour authority. Its powers and duties derive from the local legislation which applies to the port.

Public Private Partnerships

Stuart McMillan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what dealings it has had with local authorities over reports of problems in the new PPP schools with regard to dust extraction facilities for woodworking equipment.

Keith Brown: There have been discussions between officials, although local authorities recognise that these are matters to be resolved with their PPP partners.

Public Private Partnerships

Stuart McMillan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are in place to ensure that new PPP schools comply with health and safety regulations in relation to dust extraction facilities.

Keith Brown: Compliance is a matter for the local authority and its PPP partner. A new Health and Safety (Offences) Act came into force in January, following which the Health and Safety Executive issued a detailed new Enforcement Policy Statement.

Road Accidents

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been killed in accidents on Scottish roads in each month since May 2007.

Stewart Stevenson: The following table shows the number of people who have been killed in accidents on Scottish roads in each month since May 2007.

  

Month
2007
2008*
2009*


January
 
23
19


February
 
16
20


March
 
22
20


April
 
16
 


May
28
25
 


June
21
16
 


July
25
40
 


August
34
15
 


September
16
22
 


October
29
26
 


November
22
28
 


December
19
22
 



  Note: *Figures for 2008 and 2009 are provisional.

Student Finance

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-26641 by Fiona Hyslop on 17 September 2009, for what reason Scottish students over the age of 55 are not eligible for a student loan from the Scottish Awards Agency for Scotland for the study of Higher National Diploma courses.

Fiona Hyslop: This age restriction was approved by the previous Scottish Government. The repayment in full of student loans is a key factor in ensuring that the current system of student support remains affordable. It is significantly less likely that a loan provided to a student aged 55 or over will be repaid in full due to a combination of factors, including the student’s age and levels of income. It is also less likely that students over 55 will have the financial responsibilities of younger mature students, many of whom support young and growing families. Students over 55 are also much more likely to have other resources from which they can support themselves while studying.

Student Finance

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will include student organisations and other stakeholders not on the Tripartite Advisory Group on universities in its work to compare university sector funding levels across the United Kingdom.

Fiona Hyslop: The first meeting of the Tripartite Advisory Group (TAG) agreed to set up a technical sub-group to support TAG’s work on comparative funding. To keep the sub-group to a manageable number, TAG agreed the sub-group would comprise some six to 10 members drawn from the three TAG members (the Scottish Government, the Scottish Funding Council and Universities Scotland).

Student Finance

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Tripartite Advisory Group on universities will look at comparing funding for student support, including discretionary funds, across the United Kingdom.

Fiona Hyslop: The agreed remit for the Tripartite Advisory Group (TAG) is available on the Scottish Government website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/UniversitiesColleges/16640/hetaskforce/TripartiteToR.

  It does not include looking at comparative funding for student support or discretionary funds.

Waste Management

Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of municipal waste was sent to landfill in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Richard Lochhead: The following table details the percentiles of municipal waste sent to landfill by each local authority over the last five years.

  

Local Authority
Landfilled


2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09


Aberdeen
86.3
80.9
78.5
77.8
76.6


Aberdeenshire
87.5
83.7
77.0
68.8
67.7


Angus 
51.2
43.6
61.1
48.3
48.2


Argyll and Bute 
81.9
74.8
66.8
65.2
63.7


Clackmannanshire
62.1
59.9
56.4
57.8
55.1


Dumfries and Galloway
94.3
89.6
76.8
67.2
48.3


Dundee
32.5
22.7
28.4
22.5
20.7


East Ayrshire
83.8
67.4
64.7
58.2
57.9


East Dunbartonshire
81.1
73.7
68.3
67.8
67.2


East Lothian 
80.3
72.4
67.4
64.6
61.6


East Renfrewshire
71.6
69.8
68.5
65.0
61.4


Edinburgh
84.1
78.4
75.5
72.9
69.9


Eilean Siar
91.4
88.3
83.0
79.2
81.4


Falkirk
80.9
69.9
65.0
64.0
59.2


Fife
74.9
70.3
67.5
60.9
57.0


Glasgow
91.2
84.6
83.2
81.9
80.1


Highland
91.0
80.1
73.9
68.8
66.8


Inverclyde 
93.2
81.4
79.9
78.1
72.0


Midlothian
95.3
78.6
68.2
64.2
62.6


Moray
72.7
69.2
61.6
56.0
56.1


North Ayrshire
76.1
74.2
74.2
68.9
64.3


North Lanarkshire
82.6
71.9
72.3
68.2
61.3


Orkney Islands
23.1
16.1
28.3
23.7
25.4


Perth and Kinross
72.5
65.3
65.4
63.5
61.6


Renfrewshire
85.0
75.5
71.8
69.9
69.5


Scottish Borders
92.2
84.0
71.7
66.5
63.8


Shetland Islands
27.4
23.6
9.4
7.9
5.9


South Ayrshire
79.0
65.2
60.7
56.9
58.7


South Lanarkshire
71.6
66.7
64.6
63.0
63.0


Stirling
71.1
66.1
64.3
61.3
58.5


West Dunbartonshire 
92.9
81.0
68.0
67.6
67.9


West Lothian
82.1
73.0
65.5
65.7
58.1


Scottish Average
80.3
73.0
69.8
66.1
63.1



  Source: SEPA’s Local Authority Waste Arisings Survey, 2004-05 to 2005-06; WasteDataFlow, 2006-07 to 2008-09.